Enslaved to modern masters
Published:Friday | August 2, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
On August 1, 1838, Jamaica was emancipated from British masters as slavery was abolished. Though marginalisation still occurred, where the whites in the country and those with 'high colour' had more opportunities than those with dark skins, we were made 'free'. Fast-forward to August 1, 2013, one hundred and seventy-five years later.
Are we really FREE?
Yes, nobody can own anybody as a slave anymore, and there's no more hanging and rape by our 'masters'. People are free to go to the schools they want, save for the Ministry of Education determining for some people, and even then, they can transfer.
Slavery, as it was in the 1800s, exists no more. But the answer to the question, for me, is no. We still aren't truly free.
Until we learn to use the power we, as a people, possess, while helping people with a darker skin tone to get past the mentality that they need to be 'brown' - or white - before 'sup'n can gwaan fi dem', we are still slaves to the whims, corruption, and bureaucracy of the Government.
At times, our only democratic freedom seems to be electing who we want in office, after which we're forced to take whatever they say, be it a sudden toll increase, watching them waste $100 million on 'Jamaica 51' celebrations when so many could use the monetary help, or a poorly thought out smoking ban.
I still wonder what Jamaica would be like had we stayed a British colony for a while longer. Perhaps we'd have something similar to Cayman's economy. We can only speculate.
But until we get everyone educated and thinking critically, although as of August 1, 1838, slavery might have been abolished, we are still yet to be TRULY free.
Ponder the thought posted by my friend: "It is said that slavery was abolished but ... it's a lie. Money is our slave MASTERS [sic] and the corrupt Government is the whip. The whip [is] called Tax."
ALWAYNE ALLEN